Somewhere Deep in Arcadia Academy.

  The Restricted Wing.

  The air was thick with smoke.

  Not from fire—

  But from power.

  Crimson.

  Coiling.

  Alive.

  A boy sat alone in the darkness.

  Unmoving.

  Eyes shut.

  And then—

  He opened them.

  Twin embers.

  Burning gold-red like dying stars.

  “He awakened early…” a voice murmured from behind the gss.

  “That’s... not supposed to happen.”

  Another researcher hissed, stepping back.

  “This one’s different. The system can’t even register his level.”

  Suddenly, the boy stood.

  No sound.

  No motion.

  Just presence.

  Overwhelming, crushing, suffocating presence.

  “Get out of my head,” the boy whispered—

  even though no one had spoken aloud.

  Gss shattered.

  ---

  At the Rooftop of Division D.

  Batman stood overlooking the academy.

  Wind swept across the field below.

  His cape fpped gently, but his thoughts were far from peaceful.

  “Drake was strong. But he wasn’t the real threat,” he muttered.

  “They’re hiding something... or someone.”

  He remembered the crowd.

  The way the Council reacted.

  The silence behind the appuse.

  Then—

  a shadow moved beside him.

  It was Cire.

  “They promoted you.”

  He gnced sideways.

  “To where?”

  “Division B. Effective immediately.”

  “They want you in the top tier by end of term.”

  Batman didn’t answer.

  Instead, he asked something else.

  “Do you know about the one they’re keeping locked underground?”

  Cire blinked.

  “You shouldn’t be asking about that.”

  He stepped past her.

  “Then maybe I’m asking the right questions.”

  ---

  Meanwhile at Student Quarters

  Deku was losing it.

  He paced the room, muttering, eyes wide with ideas.

  “Okay so if Batman beat Drake—does that mean he unlocked a hidden evolution branch?”

  “Or is he a hybrid css build? That might expin the body count perk combined with—WAIT—”

  Jessa threw a pillow at his face.

  “Shut up, Deku.”

  He pulled the pillow down.

  “You don’t understand, Jessa. He might be the key. Batman isn’t just leveling up. He’s breaking the system.”

  She narrowed her eyes.

  “And what does that mean for us?”

  Deku grinned.

  “It means... we’re about to witness history.”

  ---

  The boy with burning eyes stood at the edge of a massive door.

  Dozens of runes glowed along its surface—each one older than the st.

  “They thought they could contain me,” he whispered.

  “But I’m not here to be contained.”

  He reached out.

  The door pulsed.

  Then, without touching it—

  It opened.

  A single name echoed through the halls.

  Spoken not with voice,

  But will.

  “Solis.” ---